Hey everyone!
I got some feedback on my last article, and it turns out folks felt I didn’t explain the psychological stuff clearly enough. So, someone suggested I try visualizing it. Challenge accepted!
Check out this quick 5-minute video where I dive into how our brains can totally trick us and make us miss out on valuable feedback. I also talk about the entrepreneurs' challenges that come with this and share some strategies to tackle it.
Give it a watch: Don't fall in love with your own idea - video.
I will really appreciate your feedback - so feel free to write a comment below or drop me a message.
Personal Blogs
To be blinded by the love of one's own idea - continuation.
Thursday 14 November 2024 at 20:59
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Edited by Witold Wisniewski, Thursday 14 November 2024 at 21:00
The greatest entrepreneurial risk: falling in love with...
Monday 4 November 2024 at 18:09
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Edited by Witold Wisniewski, Monday 4 November 2024 at 18:10
Do you know one of the greatest risks in entrepreneurship? In my view, it’s falling in love… with your own idea.
It’s all too easy to become captivated by a concept, convinced it holds the innovative key to solving every problem. However, this emotional attachment can lead us off course, blinding us to essential feedback and the realities of the market.
When we become infatuated with our ideas, we often overlook warning signs and dismiss valuable criticism.The unfortunate truth is that it’s remarkably easy to get trapped in this mindset, and even harder to break free from it.
Why is that? There are powerful psychological mechanisms at play. If you’re interested in exploring this topic further—understanding these mechanisms and discovering business design strategies for managing the attachment to ideas — I invite you to read my article: "Don't Fall in Love with Your Idea".
Have you ever witnessed someone who was utterly convinced they were right, even when everyone around them knew they were mistaken? Let's read the linked article and let me know if this explains (at least partially) the witnessed behavior.
It’s all too easy to become captivated by a concept, convinced it holds the innovative key to solving every problem. However, this emotional attachment can lead us off course, blinding us to essential feedback and the realities of the market.
When we become infatuated with our ideas, we often overlook warning signs and dismiss valuable criticism.The unfortunate truth is that it’s remarkably easy to get trapped in this mindset, and even harder to break free from it.
Why is that? There are powerful psychological mechanisms at play. If you’re interested in exploring this topic further—understanding these mechanisms and discovering business design strategies for managing the attachment to ideas — I invite you to read my article: "Don't Fall in Love with Your Idea".
Have you ever witnessed someone who was utterly convinced they were right, even when everyone around them knew they were mistaken? Let's read the linked article and let me know if this explains (at least partially) the witnessed behavior.
How to turn your passion to profit?
Wednesday 30 October 2024 at 11:32
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Edited by Witold Wisniewski, Wednesday 30 October 2024 at 17:28
I’ve recently dedicated time to developing materials aimed at aspiring and new entrepreneurs which are exploring various aspects of business design and entrepreneurship. This journey can be both exciting and daunting, and I believe it’s essential to equip oneself with the right knowledge and strategies.
Today, I want to highlight a crucial point: before launching a new business (a startup) —it’s vital to engage in specific preparatory activities (business exploration). These steps are instrumental in identifying the right business model, which is fundamental to the success of any venture.
To share my insights on this topic, I’ve created what I call the Passion to Profit Approach. I recorded a video where I distill 24 years of experience into just 22 minutes. In this video, I cover key concepts and practical strategies that can help you navigate the complexities of starting your own business. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/v-xJIUHGeh4
If you’re interested in this subject, I encourage you to check out the video and would love to hear your thoughts! Your feedback is invaluable as it will help me to maximise my impact on turning entrepreneurs' passions into successful enterprises.
Strong starting point of the business journey: a sound idea
Sunday 6 October 2024 at 10:02
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Let's be clear here: you don't have to have a genius idea to succeed. Business design offers approaches which allow us to start with relatively crappy ideas and turn them into workable solutions. That is true.
However it is much better from the early beginning to work out an idea which is commercially viable and fits directly to you - to your passions, motivations, values, skills, etc.
However it is much better from the early beginning to work out an idea which is commercially viable and fits directly to you - to your passions, motivations, values, skills, etc.
Here I recorded a short video with description of a simple and practical method: https://youtu.be/-PCzT66UH44
It allows you to compromise the commercial aspects with individual, personal needs and can facilitate your entrepreneurial thinking.
Let me know what you think about it.
Your idea is not you!
Tuesday 1 October 2024 at 14:09
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Edited by Witold Wisniewski, Tuesday 1 October 2024 at 14:11
Taking critique can often be a challenging experience for many individuals, particularly when it involves personal ideas. Have you ever observed something like that? Such a person is literally feedback-proof and can treat every comment even with hostility!
Here is the bad news: under specific circumstances, any of us can face this problem. This phenomenon occurs when a person's brain begins to treat their ideas as integral parts of their self-concept. When this happens, any critique directed at these ideas can be perceived as an attack on the self, leading to defensiveness or outright rejection of the feedback.
How to avoid such a disaster? I explore the way how our brain can merge ideas and identity and to avoid it in detail in the article: Don't fall in love with your idea.
The consequences of this can be severe. For instance, consider a startup owner who is in the process of finding and testing a new business model. If they view their concept as an extension of their identity, they may become impervious to valuable critiques that could enhance their business strategy. This inability to accept feedback can be detrimental, potentially leading to a failure to adapt or pivot when necessary, which is crucial for any company's survival.
Let me know in the comment what do you think about this issue!
Lunching a new business idea: make sure you verified your assumption
Sunday 22 September 2024 at 18:21
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The Startup Idea Rollercoaster
I recently had a session with a client who had a startup idea. Let’s call him Mr. Believer. He was convinced his idea was the next big thing and was ready to invest heavily in its development, even planning to take out a private bank loan. He even had a business plan!
Impressive, right?
Well, not so fast. When I started asking Mr. Believer about the evidence supporting his idea, he was a bit stumped. Sure, he had some general industry data, but nothing concrete to prove his idea would actually work in the real world. Uh-oh, red flag!
The Reality Check
I gently explained to Mr. Believer that it’s wise to start small and gather evidence before diving in headfirst with a big investment. After all, we don’t want to end up with a fancy business plan that’s just a collection of wishful thinking, do we?
I shared the concept of breaking down assumptions into testable business hypotheses. By identifying the underlying assumptions and testing them, we can validate the idea before going all-in.In fact, I once wrote an extensive article exploring what assumptions are and how to break them down into actionable business hypotheses. Understanding this is essential because our ideas often stem from assumptions that need to be validated.
Learning Point
The key takeaway for Mr. Believer was this: in the process of developing a new idea, the only thing that matters is checking how our assumptions relate to reality. E.g.: do people actually want to pay for our services?
So, if you’re a budding entrepreneur with a brilliant idea, remember: start small, test your assumptions, and gather evidence. Then decide.
It may not be as exciting as dreaming about the great success that is just around the corner, I know, but it’s the smart way to ensure your idea has legs before you invest a ton of money.
Trust me, your future self will thank you
A note on business design and agile approach to a business strategy
Saturday 21 September 2024 at 15:42
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The modern world is changing faster than ever. In order to be able to respond to these changes and to adapt well, we as business people, entrepreneurs need to be flexible and agile. Sounds obvious, isn't it?
The challenge is about every day of execution. Being persistently and methodically flexible and agile day by day - in order to understand the reality and to adapt to it. In other words that simply means: being able to understand what people need and if they are willing to pay for it, finding if there are enough such people. And then embedding this into a right business model to be able to operate at the right scale.
That is a process - a real job every entrepreneur needs to do - regardless if the one is engaged in a startup or mature company.
What happens when this is neglected?
Disastrous things are happening. Recently I recorded a video about an entrepreneur who invested 50k in a retail business just to get 3 customers in 3 weeks after launching (you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/gDEH2Xk7m0g ).
You can say: how it is possible (BTW I have answered this question in a video)? That has to be just bad luck. Unfortunately it is not. Believe me it is pretty common. Definitely more frequent than it should be. I learnt plenty of such case studies in my professional practice.
So, yes, agile approaches can help us to succeed and/or avoid a big failure. And this is what I intend to write about here - if I stick to my resolution
Thanks for reading.
Witold
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